


Restrain

by ThatSinga



Series: Rowvember 2020 [26]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Backstory, Bounty Hunters, F/M, Heartbreak, Past Relationship(s), Prequel, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27731887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatSinga/pseuds/ThatSinga
Summary: Velvet is constantly holding back her demonic side, but sometimes it gets the better of her.
Relationships: Boss (Saints Row)/Original Character(s), Female Boss (Saints Row)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Rowvember 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995631
Kudos: 5





	Restrain

It wasn't easy to hold back sometimes. As a demoness, Velvet was strong enough to punch through people's skulls, yet to keep her identity a secret, she had to restrain herself from using her powers all the time, only ever being able to freely apply them when she was alone, and making sure no witnesses would survive.

The same was true for mock fights and sparring matches. Whenever she was training or working out, she had to completely shut off her powers, using her body's raw strength instead.  
Which wasn't a bad thing in reality. Afterall, the Saint would sometimes have moments of weakness, when her demonic powers were drained, in those scenarios she had to be able to rely on her human body alone, otherwise even a regular human could get the better of her.

However, the real danger was herself. Restraining the monster she had within her wasn't simple. It would reveal itself from time to time, take over and go on rampages. It came out during moments of emotional distress, after consuming a lot of souls at once, and even randomly every now and then. In those events she had to lock herself away, she would go feral, unable to differentiate between friend or foe, a danger to her friends, she couldn't risk that. Not again.

It happened centuries ago, but she remembers it as if it had been mere weeks. It was during her time as a bounty hunter in the mid 1700s. She made good money visiting the bounty board and bringing people in who had prices on their heads. She worked alone, it allowed her to do things her way, at her own pace. People just slowed her down. It also meant she didn't have to share the bounty with others.

Velvet enjoyed her privacy, the freedom to be who she was, not hiding her tail and other demonic features from companions or associates. It also let her to do a different sort of hunting on the side, her hunt for souls.

However, on one mission, she ran into a man who had been camping near the road. The demoness had gotten off her horse to approach the stranger, hoping he would have had a lead for her, or at the very least, a tasty soul to feed on. That man had been William, a travelling doctor who had recently been robbed of his belongings and wares.

They had begun to conversate, getting along quite well. He hadn't approved of her profession as a bounty hunter, said killing for a living was wrong, yet the men she killed for money had usually been killers themselves. He pointed out the irony in that.

Despite some of their differences, she had taken a liking to the man, and decided she would try to retrieve his stolen goods for him, for a price, of course. Not even a day later, she had returned to his camp with his horse and carriage, all of his medicine still intact inside of it. He had been overjoyed to see his belongings back, but he knew she had used lethal force to recover them. After receiving her payment, the two of them then agreed to travel to the next town together. 

That moment had been the start of a partnership between the pair, they had an odd dynamic, the ruthless femme fatale who killed for a living, and the optimistic, good natured doctor who only wanted to help people. She posed as his bodyguard whenever he travelled, to prevent him from getting ambushed yet again, in return he healed her wounds she suffered in battle. Obviously she just healed them herself, but she let him treat her, since it made him feel good to believe he was the one fixing her up.

Their alliance lasted for a few years, during which it slowly developed into something more. Over time, the two of them had gotten closer, which made it harder for her to hide her true self, but it also brought her a weird feeling of contentment. She never saw herself settling for a single partner, it just wouldn't be possible for someone who needed the souls of humans to survive. The succubus was also prone to sudden outbursts during which her demonic side revealed itself against her will, making her go feral, out of her control, but she somehow managed to keep it subdued, maybe the affection of another being helped her keep it at bay.

Every now and again he would ask her to stop her hunting, and properly settle down with him, start a family. Those moments made Velvet sad, reminding her of the reality of the situation. Everything in her life would be temporary, he would grow old and die with time, while she would live on. It devastated her whenever she remembered that truth, unable to tell him, fearing he would despise her for what she really was.

It was that inner conflict that made it more and more difficult for her to hold back her true nature. Thus one night, when the two of them had been asleep, it took over, that creature she tried so hard to keep buried, reared its ugly head. She couldn't stop it, she wasn't really present when it happened, despite being right there, it was like she had seen it happen in third person, unable to step in, like a nightmare almost. 

When she woke up the following day, their room had been in shambles. Huge claw marks across the walls and floor, the bedsheets red and torn, and his mangled corpse laying motionless beside her, his face frozen, eyes wide in terror, as if he had seen the devil himself. She had failed to subdue her inner demon, and William had paid the price. She wasn't even able to give him a proper burial, people would have asked questions, she had to get out of there. 

Her heart broken and her guilt overwhelming, she had cursed her existence. Velvet hadn't looked back at the burning building when she rode away from the scene. She had set fire to the home, made it look like an accident. With tears in her eyes she left that part of her life behind for good, telling herself to never fool herself again. She wasn't human, and she never would be. She wasn't made for love, all she knew was death, and her presence only brought others pain and suffering.

Even to this day, she sometimes hears his screams in her sleep, waking up in cold sweat. Since then she has gotten better at keeping her dark side in check, though it would still surface from time to time. At least now she could tell when her control was starting to slip, enough time for her to get away from the people she cared about, she couldn't risk past events repeating themselves.

She had to exercise restraint, lock herself away if she had to, not only for herself, but her friends and loved ones.


End file.
